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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489862">hybrid signal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulera/pseuds/nebulera'>nebulera</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>of beasts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Imperial Era, M/M, Pre-Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:07:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,529</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24489862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulera/pseuds/nebulera</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rome wasn’t built in a day.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darth Maul/CT-7567 | Rex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>of beasts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2021009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>hybrid signal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rex’s head is ringing with pain as his eyes pry themselves open. A single light at the middle of the ceiling blinds his vision and he looks away quickly to avoid the sharp burn. Sitting up, he shakes his head and presses his palm against it hard to stifle the throbbing. He doesn’t recall how he got here. The room lacks any color; there’s only one door, and even through his armor, it’s unbearably cold. Rex swears. He’s in an Imperial cell.</p><p>He’d been running from them after refusing to comply with their demands that he go with them to be questioned by their Vice Admiral. Judging by the voices through their buckets, they weren’t vode, and Rex didn’t know if he was glad at that or not. He hadn’t seen a brother for a few years. After the clones had been decommissioned and the Empire’s troops began to transition into the official Imperial Army, any independent clones were a threat to security: especially someone like Rex, who had actually broken through conditioning.</p><p>He’d been outnumbered and then was stunned from behind. Now, all he can do is patiently wait for his end; he wouldn’t submit to the Empire if it is the last thing he does. Or he can at least <em> attempt </em>escape. Force knows no one will be coming to rescue him.</p><p>When Rex stands, he shoves away the lightheadedness and approaches the cell door. As he expected, it has no way out from the inside.</p><p>“I wouldn’t bother,” comes a voice from behind him. Rex twists around at the sound, instantly remembering the quality of that tone and who it belongs to. There he sits in the corner on the bench provided to them, one mechanical leg on the ground, the other on the bench propping his arm up. He sits quietly in the shadows, but his yellow eyes are bright and pierce into Rex’s gaze.</p><p>Rex instinctively reaches down to his holsters, only to pull back when he realizes they are empty. He mentally curses and raises his arms defensively in front of him, curling his fingers into fists instead.</p><p>When Maul rises and comes out into the light, Rex sees red and he lunges; his head floods with memories of a crashing Venator and countless graves. His first throw meets air, as does his second. Maul moves swiftly with every movement, not allowing Rex a single land, but he still fruitlessly tries. He’s taller than Rex, but not much broader. It’s his inhuman quickness mixed with the power of a (former?) Sith that outmatches Rex, and he is quickly subdued. Maul grabs his wrist and twists it behind him. He’s shoved front first against a wall.</p><p>“Not now, Commander,” Maul snarls. “If you want to pick a fight later, I would be <em> happy </em>to, but we don’t want to put on a show for our hosts, yet.”</p><p>Rex snarls back before he tries somewhat to relax his tensed body. Whatever Maul is in here for is of no concern to Rex, but their being trapped together means they, at the very least, have a common enemy. He isn’t sure Maul won’t try to kill him as soon as he is let go, but he assumes if that was the goal he would have done it already. </p><p>“Fine,” Rex says through gritted teeth, his face pressed against the cold wall. When he glances back at Maul, he catches the end of a smirk and then he’s let go.</p><p>Maul steps back and crosses his arms, staring down at Rex with a deadly look, then eyeing him up and down. Like it’s a challenge, he glares back at him.</p><p>And then he blinks. He’d called him <em> commander.</em></p><p>“You remember me?” Rex asks, not impressed but strangely curious.</p><p>“Of course I remember you. You shot me.”</p><p>That he did. Mandalore is something he tries not to think of often, but when he does, his thoughts often drift to what-ifs and things he could have or should have done differently, either during or prior. They are not pleasant thoughts, but all he can do is remember.</p><p>“Okay,” Rex says, trying to quietly box those thoughts away before they get the better of him. “But what would you need me for? You’re a Sith, you can handle this yourself.”</p><p>Maul’s glance at him is practically an eye roll. “Not a Sith any longer, at least, not by any definition that’s relevant to you or me.” He sucks in a breath. Rex can’t help but stare at the tattoos that adorn his face in swirls of black against red. He never got a true look at him years ago. Everything moved rather quickly upon Maul’s capture.</p><p>“And I could escape here without much hindrance, with or without you.”</p><p>If there’s a point Maul is trying to get to, he’s doing a poor job of it.</p><p>Like Rex’s thoughts are being projected, Maul glances at him with an unreadable look, but his lips curl back into a smirk, and Rex feels his unimpressed stance is having the opposite effect that he’s intending.</p><p>“You were a Republic captain turned commander during the Clone War, yes?” Rhetorical. Rex knows Maul invaded Jesse’s mind for information; it still makes his blood boil and part of him still wants to lunge at Maul in his brother’s honor. </p><p>Maul’s eyes spark and Rex is caught off-guard once again. If he ever imagined what their meeting would look like, it certainly wasn’t this.</p><p>“Technically, I was demoted.”</p><p>“Captain, then. It wouldn’t be outlandish to assume you have knowledge of Imperial protocols and access codes.”</p><p>Rex contemplates this. “If they were smart, they’d have changed them.”</p><p>“I’m not counting on their intelligence level.”</p><p>“Sure,” Rex says. “But not sure what I have to gain from helping you.” He could go through a laundry-list of why even being in Maul’s presence is detrimental, regardless of the Empire or not. He’s a self-preservationist; he thinks of likely scenarios where the Zabrak across from him will use him as bait to bide time for his escape. And even if they go through with this, Rex has no blasters and Maul is equally weaponless.</p><p>“We both escape. My body is a weapon. I could offer you protection until we make it to the ship hangar.”</p><p>Protection, Rex thinks, from <em> him. </em>He couldn’t see himself in this position a few months ago. In fact, he never thought he’d cross paths with Maul ever again. If only Commander Tano could see him now, dealing with the devil.</p><p>“Or, you can stay here to be probed by Imperials while I escape alone.”</p><p>Rex grinds his teeth. He nods.</p><p>“Excellent,” Maul says, and he turns toward the cell door. “Follow my lead, stay beside me at all times.”</p><p>Rex wants to roll his eyes. Maul’s arrogance emanates from him in steam. “You overestimate yourself. I know how often you lose.” If he can’t fight Maul, he can at least try to get under his skin.</p><p>Maul looks back at him and seems only amused.</p><p>Rex believes, even if Maul leaves him for dead, at least he will be out of this cell. He didn’t need Maul’s help, and he’s certain they will part ways once this whole endeavor is over.</p><p>Right when it looks as though Maul is going to tear down the walls, Rex stops in confusion. </p><p>“You could have escaped whenever you wanted.” </p><p>“Yes,” Maul says. “I was waiting for you to wake up.” And then he closes his eyes and the door crushes away and the walls blow out.</p><p> </p><p>…</p><p> </p><p>Months later, they’re walking through an unnamed city with a thousand heads in the crowd when Maul spots a few stormtroopers and pushes Rex back against a wall in an alley. “Hold still, alor'ad,” he says, and shields him with his own body. Maul’s eyes are on the street but their faces are close.</p><p>They pass. “Through here,” Maul says, and they turn into the alley that leads to a different road towards their destination.</p><p>“You know Mando’a?” Rex asks.</p><p>Maul looks at him peculiarly as they walk. “You forget I ruled Mandalore for some time. That was your whole purpose for being there, and where we met.”</p><p>“I didn’t forget. <em> You </em>abandoned them pretty quickly, from what I remember.”</p><p>“They were no longer of use to me.”</p><p>Rex scoffs. “Oh, that’s comforting.” To think Maul would abandon an entire people on the fly because they no longer served his purposes. And they all followed him. Either Maul is charismatic enough to hide his true intentions, or he's just a good liar. Maul could be lying to him now, and it’s only a matter of time before he turns right and leaves him for dead or worse. Yet, he continues to follow Maul, or rather he follows him, to their mutual doom.</p><p>Maul looks at him with yellow eyes glowing in the dark, void of disdain, but has a spark of something else that Rex finds he has a distant longing for. It confuses him like it always has.</p><p>“Don’t worry, Captain. I’d be a fool to be rid of you any time soon.”</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Rex, angry and unimpressed = Maul, instant attraction</p><p>(to be honest, I’m not very happy with this, but I spent enough time writing it that I might as well post. comments are greatly appreciated!)</p><p>yay or nay</p></blockquote></div></div>
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